1099s for gig workers can happen, but not all the time. Most will treat them as “casual labor” and skip the 1099.
This was SOP during the red hot housing boom. Millions of workers being paid cash, no 1099 and no tracks. They never showed up as “employed” and now do not show up as “unemployed” but you can tell that consumer spending is way down due to less money in these folks’ pockets.
I run a construction company. Any individual I pay over 600.00 in a year I am required to issue a 1099 or put on as an employee. Regardless of amount I am required to obtain a w9 and i9 form. On top of that my insurance (work comp and liability) require at least liability insurance and in Indiana a work comp waiver if not insurance. Funny part is it’s the unemployment audits that catch those I know that paid under the table the most. Another problem would be an insurance audit. I’m not sure how these rules would apply to uber or the like but I would expect similar rules. My biggest concern would be liability for uninsured or underinsured if I were uber. I am aware of a guy who drove for them that never made a car payment or got insured. About 6 months in the car was repossessed.